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Testimonials

The WLA has provided an invaluable intellectual home for me as I have worked to forge a professional identity over the course of my time in graduate school.

Alex YoungCopeland Fellow, Amherst College

The J. Golden Taylor Award

Named in honor of the first editor of Western American Literature, and also one of the Western Literature Association’s founders and presidents, the Taylor Award is a prestigious award juried by a team of experts in the field and given annually to a work of scholarship submitted by a graduate student for the annual conference. Creative work is not considered for the Taylor; however, creative work may be submitted to the association’s Manfred Prize, and graduate student participants have been successful in winning that in the past (see Manfred Award).

For the Taylor, submit an abstract by the proposal deadline. Once your proposal has been accepted, submit the complete, conference-length paper (not exceeding 15 pages) with a cover letter indicating that you wish to be considered for the Taylor Award to the conference president. The deadline for the completed paper is July 15. Please send it to both of our presidents: Drs. SueEllen Campbell and Alex Hunt.

The award consists of a $200 cash prize and a banquet ticket.

Note: To be eligible for this award, you must be registered as a graduate student at the time of the conference. And the award can only be received once.

The J. Golden Taylor Award Recipients

Year

Recipient

Affiliation

2018

Travis Franks

Arizona State University

2017

Elena Valdez

Rice University

2016

Jada Ach

University of South Carolina

2015

Jenna Hunnef

University of Toronto

2014

Aubrey Streit Krug

University of Nebraska, Lincoln

2013

Heather Dundas

University of Southern California

2012

Sylvan Goldberg

Stanford University

2011

Christopher Muniz

University of Southern California

2010

Alex Young

University of Southern California

2009

Joshuah O'Brien

West Texas A&M

2008

Matthew J. Lavin

University of Iowa

2007

Patrick Gleason

University of California, San Diego

2006

Angela Waldie

University of Calgary

2005

John Gamber

Univ. of California, Santa Barbara

2004

Ianina Arnold

University of Idaho

2003

Matt Burkhart

University of Arizona

2002

Laurie Clements Lambeth

University of Houston

2001

Virginia Kennedy

Montclair State University

2000

Jenny Emery Davidson

University of Utah

1999

Jenny Emery Davidson

University of Utah

1998

Anne L. Kaufman

1997

Jonathan Pitts

SUNY-Buffalo

1996

Wes Mantooth

1995

Phil Coleman-Hull

1994

David Mazel

1993

Evelyn I. Funda

Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln

1989

Nat Lewis

1988

Nancy Cook

SUNY-Buffalo

1987

Cheryll Burgess Glotfelty

Cornell University

1986

Linda A. Hughson-Ross

1984

Anne K. Phillips

Western Literature Association (WLA)

Founded in 1965, the Western Literature Association (WLA) is a non-profit, scholarly association that promotes the study of the diverse literature and cultures of the North American West, past and present.

Western American Literature (WAL)

(The Journal)

Published by the Western Literature Association, Western American Literature is the leading journal in western American literary studies.